Gender Pay Gap
Go to Main Section of Page | Home | View PDF | Email | Print | Save to Favorite Documents | CiteNow! | Find Keyword | * FULL REPORT * Introduction * Overview * Background * Current Situation * Outlook * Pro/Con * Chronology * Short Features * Maps/Graphs * Bibliography * The Next Step * Contacts * Footnotes * About the Author * * Comments | Gender Pay Gap | Are women paid fairly in the workplace? | March 14, 2008 • Volume 18, Issue 11 |
By Thomas J. Billitteri Introduction
Former Goodyear manager Lilly Ledbetter won more than $3 million in a pay-discrimination suit against the tire firm, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 2007 for filing her complaint too late. (AFP/Getty Images/Fannie Carrier) |
More than four decades after Congress passed landmark anti-discrimination legislation — including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 — a debate continues to rage over whether women are paid fairly in the workplace. Contending that gender bias contributes to a significant "pay gap," reformists support proposed federal legislation aimed at bringing women 's wages more closely in line with those of men. Others say new laws are not needed because the wage gap largely can be explained by such factors as women 's choices of occupation and the amount of time they spend in the labor force. Meanwhile, a class-action suit charging Wal-Mart Stores with gender bias in pay and promotions — the biggest sex-discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history — may be heading for the Supreme Court. Some women 's advocates argue that a controversial high-court ruling last year makes it more difficult to sue over wage discrimination.Go to topOverview"An insult to my dignity" is the way Lilly Ledbetter described it. For 19 years, she worked at the Goodyear Tire plant in Gadsden, Ala., one of a handful of women among the roughly 80 people who held the same supervisory position she did. Over the years, unbeknownst to her, the
By Thomas J. Billitteri Introduction
Former Goodyear manager Lilly Ledbetter won more than $3 million in a pay-discrimination suit against the tire firm, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 2007 for filing her complaint too late. (AFP/Getty Images/Fannie Carrier) |
More than four decades after Congress passed landmark anti-discrimination legislation — including the Equal Pay Act of 1963 — a debate continues to rage over whether women are paid fairly in the workplace. Contending that gender bias contributes to a significant "pay gap," reformists support proposed federal legislation aimed at bringing women 's wages more closely in line with those of men. Others say new laws are not needed because the wage gap largely can be explained by such factors as women 's choices of occupation and the amount of time they spend in the labor force. Meanwhile, a class-action suit charging Wal-Mart Stores with gender bias in pay and promotions — the biggest sex-discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history — may be heading for the Supreme Court. Some women 's advocates argue that a controversial high-court ruling last year makes it more difficult to sue over wage discrimination.Go to topOverview"An insult to my dignity" is the way Lilly Ledbetter described it. For 19 years, she worked at the Goodyear Tire plant in Gadsden, Ala., one of a handful of women among the roughly 80 people who held the same supervisory position she did. Over the years, unbeknownst to her, the
Bibliography: | Mar. 14, 2008 | Gender Pay Gap | | Dec | Sep. 27, 2002 | Living-Wage Movement | | Apr | Oct. 27, 1978 | Wage-Price Controls | | Jun | Mar. 23, 1966 | Rising Cost of Living | | Oct | Jun. 21, 1961 | Wage Policy in Recovery | | Jun | Sep. 18, 1957 | Control of Living Costs | | Nov | Jan. 26, 1954 | Minimum Wage Raise | | Jan | Jan. 21, 1953 | Guaranteed Annual Wage | | Dec | Nov. 19, 1951 | Fringe Benefits and Wage Stabilization | | Dec | Jun. 13, 1949 | Wages in Deflation | | Jun | Oct. 29, 1946 | Decontrol of Wages | | Dec | Sep. 29, 1945 | Wage Policy | | Oct | May 17, 1943 | Incentive Wage Payments | | Aug | Apr. 28, 1941 | Wartime Changes in the Cost of Living | | Sep | Nov. 01, 1938 | Industry and Labor Under the Wage-Hour Act | | Jan | Apr. 11, 1935 | The Cost of Living in the United States | | Sep | May 24, 1930 | The Anthracite Wage Agreement | | Feb Document URL: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2008031400 The CQ Researcher • March 14, 2008 • Volume 18, Number 11 © 2009, CQ Press, A Division of SAGE Publications